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Ljósifoss Hydropower Station

About


The oldest power station on the River Sog, Ljósifoss began producing power for the city of Reykjavik in 1937. The plant made it possible for homes to stop relying on burning coal for cooking and at the same time, geothermal began to replace heating in the capital.

"Powering the Future" exhibition


Ljósifoss power station hosts a state-of-the-art interactive exhibition on-site called “Powering the Future” that is open to visitors all year round.

Energy Production


Landsvirkjun believes in an integrated approach where prudence, reliability and the harmony of operations with the environment and society are fundamental to our operations.

Iceland generates almost 100% of its electricity from renewable energy resources and Landsvirkjun generates 75% of this electricity.

The Ljósifoss Hydropower Station is one of Landsvirkjun’s 14 hydropower stations. The station celebrated 80 years of operations in 2017 and is still going strong. The utilisation ratio of the station that year was approximately 97.5%, which means that the turbines at the station were active for 357 days. The station was off-line due to maintenance and inspection for a total of 7 days and experienced only one day of unplanned interruption.

History


Energy shortages were common in Reykjavík in the 1930s and the electricity supply from the Elliðaár Power Station became inadequate. The station struggled to supply enough energy for domestic use, street lighting and basic industry. The Reykjavík City Council quickly realised that the Sog area could potentially provide a solution.

The decision to build the first Sog station was not taken until 1933 because of various political upheavals and fears of a looming world crisis. The station was designed to supply the City and its neighbouring areas with energy. The company ‘Sogsvirkjun’ was subsequently established by Reykjavík City. The City was initially the sole owner of the company but the state was given the option of acquiring rights to future stations.

The station was mostly constructed by hand and construction proved challenging. Two 4.4 MW turbines were installed and the Ljósifoss Power Station came online in 1937. Initial calculations showed that the station would provide enough energy to meet demand for the next 7-8 years but the Second World War created a new energy crisis. The second phase of the power project was completed in 1944 when the total energy supply was increased to 15 MW.